Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expanded his council of ministers with the induction of four new faces from the Kashmir valley - Ali Mohammad Sagar, Mir Saifullah, Shameema Firdous, and Altaf Ahmad Wani (Kalloo), who represent constituencies in the Kashmir Valley.
The oath of office was administered by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Lok Bhawan in Srinagar. This reshuffle followed the submission of resignations by all sitting ministers to the Chief Minister. Notably, Sports and Technical Education Minister Satish Sharma was the only minister removed from the cabinet. During the ceremony, Sagar took his oath in Urdu, while Saifullah, Firdous, and Wani opted for English.
With all four inductees hailing from Kashmir, the expansion has shifted the balance of the cabinet in the two-year-old government heavily towards the valley. Seven ministers in the now 9-member council hail from Kashmir, while Jammu is now represented by only two ministers in the cabinet: Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and Minister Javeed Rana.
The ceremony was attended by the chief minister, Deputy CM Surinder Chaudhary, Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, NC President Farooq Abdullah, and various MLAs from both ruling and opposition parties, including the BJP and the PDP.